international news _ 16th January, 2007
Crobar Shuttered By Party Police
Text by Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
New York cops padlocked Crobar as it was about to open last Friday evening
(January 5), justifying the raid on account of nine incidents of violence
and a handful of drug and underage drinking arrests last year. Neighbouring
club Sol was also shuttered on the same night, in the latest police
crackdown on nightlife in the city.
Crobar subsequently successfully challenged the closure in court, and were
scheduled to re-open this weekend with a number of undisclosed stipulations,
Skrufff man-in-New York Matt Kalkhoff said.
In more US news, brave cops battered an eminent 56 year old British
historian to the ground and arrested him in Atlanta, Georgia, last week,
after they spotted the law-breaking Brit jaywalking.
History professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto spoke about the terrifying
incident in a video he posted on YouTube and described how it started when
US cop Officer Leonpacher spotted him stepping out into the street.
I come from a country where you can cross the road where you like. It
hadn't occurred to me that I wasn't allowed to cross the road between the
two main conference venues, he explained.
This young man kicked my legs from under me, pinned me to the ground,
wrenched my arms behind my back and handcuffed me. I had five burly
policemen pinioning me to the ground, pressing my neck with really very
severe pain. (Standard)
Officer Leonpacher was unrepentant, however, the Times reported, sneering
He chose to ignore a uniformed officer. At what point can anyone say I
overreacted? while the professor's wife Lesley was philosophical.
I suppose it's lucky he wasn't shot, she told the Times. The professor was
held for 8 hours in filthy cells before being released, he said.
Both incidents occurred as US authorities announced they're to start
fingerprinting all visitors to the states shortly, meaning details of 4
million Brits will be added to the FBI's criminal databases by the end of
the year, the Observer reported.
"This maniacal proposal will turn thousands of law-abiding travellers into
terror suspects" security expert Simon Davies from Privacy International
told the paper.
"The technology will be far less reliable - anyone could be the victim of a
false match. Be warned. A San Francisco Bay family holiday may easily become
a nightmare" he said.
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